Lily + James: A Story of an Unforgettable Year
by roxycanadian2002
Summary: Lily and James are starting their third year at Hogwarts, and so far, it's going great. New friends, new pranks, new teachers, and a school play. But their lives take a dangerous turn when they realize that someone is after them...
1. Here We Go Again...

"Lily!" a skinny boy with brown hair so dark it was almost black, bright blue eyes, and glasses called, as he ran towards the train, where a girl was lifting her trunk onto it.  
  
Lily turned around, "Oh, hey James!" she replied. Lily, a Muggle-born, (Muggle meaning a person with not a drop of magical blood in them) had coppery-red hair, and bright green eyes, an odd combination, if you asked her, "Where are the others?"  
  
"Oh, I haven't seen them yet today," the boy called James, replied. He started to lift his own trunk onto the train.  
  
"Oh, there they are!" Lily stated looking behind James. James turned around and smiled. There, were three of four of his best friends. The fourth was standing next to him, helping with his trunk. First came Sirius Black. He had brown hair and rich brown eyes, and almost always had a smile on his face, as he and James created mischief everywhere they went. However, he knew when to stop, and be the friend a person needed. Which is why he was James' very best friend. Next came Remus Lupin. One might think he was just another boring, shy boy, as they usually judged by his skinny body, and light brown eyes and hair. But his friends knew better. Remus was really very funny, and always made it a point to try and make his friends laugh. Not that he needed to try very hard. Even Remus' infatuation with breakfast was enough to make any one of them keel over with laughter. Finally, came Peter Pettigrew. Slightly pudgy, and somewhat unsure of himself, Peter always followed Sirius and James around. He was easily the most vulnerable of the five, but when it came to games like Gobstones and Wizards' Chess, none of them could hold a candle to Peter.  
  
"Hello," they each greeted each other with a smile on their face.  
  
"Well, shall we get on the train?" Sirius asked when they were done loading their trunks.  
  
"Yeah, sure," James answered as the five stepped onto the train, and walked down the train, in search of an empty compartment, "I can't wait till we start at Hogwarts this year. I wonder who the new Transfiguration teacher is."  
  
"Yeah…me too," Lily agreed.  
  
The five of them were about to start their third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The last two years had been two of the best years of their lives. They had all become friends in their first year, and enjoyed the time they spent together. Chatting in front of the Gryffindor house common room fire, watching James play Quidditch, a wizarding game, laughing at the practical jokes pulled by Hogwarts' best schemers, Sirius and James, and learning about the great wizarding world.  
  
They finally entered the last compartment, which they found, was empty. Sitting down in the seats, they started chatting about what sorts of things might happen that year. They hadn't even noticed that the train had started moving until a woman with a trolley filled with all different sorts of magical sweets entered the compartment, with a smile on her face.  
  
"Food off the trolley, dears?" the woman asked. She didn't even need to ask, for when she said the word 'food' the boys were at the trolley, pulling their money out of their pockets, and before long, they had all the food they wanted, paid the woman, and the compartment was all theirs again. Or so they thought…  
  
Not ten minutes after the woman with the food trolley had left, two boys from Slytherin House, Gryffindor's main rival, entered the compartment. One of the boys was named Lucius Malfoy, and he had blond hair, blue eyes, and was the biggest snob you could come across at Hogwarts. The other boy was Malfoy's best friend, Severus Snape, who had eyes so black it was like staring into a bottomless pit, greasy black hair, and a hooknose.  
  
"Why, if it isn't Potter, and his little friends," Malfoy sneered.  
  
"Malfoy, how nice of you to join us. We were just discussing some of your more…snobbish characteristics," Lily greeted, before any of the boys could stand up and threaten Malfoy, "Care to sit down and tell us some we haven't yet heard? Hmm?"  
  
"Shut up, Evans," Malfoy jeered. Snape nudged Malfoy, and gave him a warning look. Everyone present knew that Snape had certain feelings for Lily, even though Lily didn't return them.  
  
"Why don't you just leave instead, Malfoy? And take your little friend with you," Lily replied.  
  
"Malfoy, if I were you, I'd do what the lady says," Sirius said, "We all know she could have you slammed to the ground within seconds, even if you can't think with that thick head of yours, or your little friend here can't think because of the grease piled up on his head."  
  
Everyone except the two Slytherins were laughing hard, Peter going so far as to clutch his stomach while rolling on the ground in hysterics, and when everyone had calmed down, the Gryffindors saw that Snape and Malfoy had left.  
  
"Well, they must have known that Lily really could take them," James stated, then added, "Especially if things turned to using magic."  
  
Lily grinned, "Thanks, James. That means a lot coming from you," James raised his eyebrows and Lily had to add, "I mean, because you're the one who has a 200% average, OVERALL, at school and everything."  
  
"Well, you're the one with the 196%, Lily," Sirius replied.  
  
"Before we get on discussing the marks of people in this compartment who just barely passed, let's change the subject, shall we?" Remus said lightly.  
  
It didn't take long. They went on to talk about the Quidditch World Cup, which was to be held the following year. This turned out to be a good topic to turn to, because even a few hours later, they were still going on about it.  
  
"What are you talking about, Sirius? What? Have you turned into a prat on me over the summer?!?!? You KNOW England could beat out Ireland in a final ANY day. I mean, they've got a superb team!" James exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, but are you forgetting that Ireland has one of the best Seekers in the world?!?!?" Sirius practically shouted. The boys were really getting into it now.  
  
"Yeah, but the English Chasers could rack up enough points to beat the Irish, even if Ireland got the Snitch!" James retorted.  
  
"But James! You're forgetting that Ireland has Chasers, as well! And they're not half bad!" Sirius shouted. They were both very angry at this point. They were standing up and practically screaming. Everyone was surprised that no one from the other compartments had come in to check what was going on.  
  
"Sirius, you're obviously forgetting that the beaters of Transylvania could knock the Quaffle out of the air, get the Snitch, and lose the game to the leprechauns!" Remus shouted, causing the Gryffindors to send him odd looks.  
  
"Remus! What the hell are you talking about?" James exclaimed.  
  
"I don't really know. I was just trying to get you guys to shut up," Remus explained. The tension Sirius and James were building broke. They all started laughing. Remus shrugged, "Well, I guess it didn't entirely work. You people are still making quite an awful lot of noise with all of that 'laughter'." This remark caused them to laugh even harder. Defeated, Remus sat down, grumbling something about certain people not getting the point.  
  
Finally, after much discussion about the Quidditch teams at Hogwarts, and who was to make the team or not, the train halted, and they arrived at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors stepped off of the train, and walked towards a row of carriages without horses.  
  
James, Lily, and Sirius got in one carriage together, and Remus and Peter sat in the carriage behind them, with a boy from Hufflepuff house who had happened to be in a few of their classes from last year.  
  
The carriages led them magically to the front steps of an enormous castle with many turrets and towers. Around the castle was a vast lake, which the carriages went around.  
  
"Ah…Hogwarts," James said, breathing in deeply, while closing his eyes, "I missed this place."  
  
"I think we all did, James," Sirius replied, who had already gotten out of the carriage, and was now helping Lily out.  
  
The three waited for Remus and Peter's carriage, which didn't take long, and soon after, the five were walking to the Great Hall together. They sat down at the Gryffindor table. Despite the fact that they had all pigged out on sweets while on the train, they were all famished, and waited impatiently for the Sorting of the first years to be done with. But it hadn't even started yet.  
  
"Bloody hurry up!" Remus murmured, loud enough for the other four to hear, "You think I can wait for 1000 first years to be sorted? Why can't they just randomly pick?"  
  
"There aren't a 1000 first years that need to be sorted, Remus. In fact, I don't even think there are 100! There's probably around 75 or so," Lily reasoned.  
  
"STILL, that's quite a bloody lot!" Remus exclaimed, this time not so quietly, causing several people to turn around to see what was the commotion. A nearby fellow third-year Gryffindor said, "Remus! Think of it this way! You're not missing breakfast! You're just waiting a little while for dinner!"  
  
Remus' expression changed, almost to fear, "Don't you even THINK about saying anything about missing breakfast! Why, I'd probably kill myself if I had to miss breakfast. Can you imagine the horrors of a day without the sweet syrup on a light fluffy pancake, with the scrumptious morsels-"  
  
Sirius had clamped his hand on top of Remus' mouth. Remus didn't even seem to notice. He still had the same expression, and appeared to still be talking, though no one could understand what he was saying. Sirius moved his hand.  
  
"-And we can't forget waffles! The butter melting on top…with syrup added on top of that, and-" Remus kept on going until-  
  
"BLOODY HELL! CAN'T YOU JUST SHUT UP ABOUT BREAKFAST!?!?!?!?" Sirius exclaimed. Several students at other tables had turned to see Sirius with a pained expression, hands up in the air, half standing, half sitting. Lily thought he might be about to strangle Remus. Remus looked at Sirius with a dazed expression on his face…  
  
"Alright," Remus shrugged. Several people snorted with laughter, and giggles started, when-  
  
Professor Dumbledore stood in front of the Hall, "As Professor Trumbull has retired her Transfiguration job, I will be reading the first year names for the evening."  
  
"Allan, Gregory."  
  
Silence filled the Hall.  
  
"Oh, dear me," Dumbledore said, blushing, "I seem to have forgotten the first years!"  
  
The Hall filled with laughter, as Dumbledore rushed out of the Hall to retrieve the first years.  
  
The first years walked in shyly, and James remembered only too well his first year, waiting anxiously to be sorted by the Sorting Hat. The hat had almost instantly chosen him for Gryffindor, and James had walked with great pride before falling flat on his face while walking to the table. A Slytherin boy nearby had purposely tripped him. It had been Malfoy. From that day forth, Malfoy and him had been enemies, which meant that their friends were enemies, and not long after, the first year Slytherins and the first year Gryffindors hated each other. But this was more than the usual house rivalry. This was full-fledged. Things had calmed down last year. A bit. Now, it seemed that the two houses were getting along at least a little bit. But they were still walking a thin wall.  
  
James turned his attention onto the first years, as most of the students had already done.  
  
"Now that the first years are here, we'll start again," Dumbledore started with a smile on his face.  
  
The whole Hall was watching now.  
  
"Allan, Gregory," Dumbledore said.  
  
Gregory stepped towards the stool and sat down. Nothing happened.  
  
"Er…what am I supposed to do?" Gregory asked nervously.  
  
"Oh, dear me! I've forgotten the Sorting Hat! I must've forgotten to put on my head this morning," Dumbledore exclaimed, rushing through a door by the teachers' table.  
  
"Oh, brother. At this rate, we'll never eat!" Remus muttered.  
  
Dumbledore came rushing back not long after, carrying with him, a patched and frayed wizard's hat. Dumbledore shoved Gregory off of the stool, and placed the hat on it instead.  
  
"There we go," Dumbledore said.  
  
Dumbledore stood off to the side, while everyone in the whole Hall stared at the Hat. After a minute or two, the hat opened near the brim, and sang:  
  
The smartest hat is back!  
  
I've been sitting on that rack!  
  
More bored than you could ever be,  
  
I wish that you could see.  
  
My job is to sort the first years,  
  
I never bring any tears,  
  
I am always right  
  
And I never fit too tight!  
  
I ask myself, is it Gryffindor?  
  
With the snazzy common room door?  
  
I send brave students here,  
  
They appear to have no fear.  
  
Then there's Slytherin,  
  
They're known to sin.  
  
Sometimes they're bad, even mad!  
  
But that's probably just a fad!  
  
Ravenclaw has might,  
  
That's why a toughie is just right.  
  
They've wit, and fun,  
  
They're work is never done.  
  
And last, we have Hufflepuff,  
  
They're students can be rough,  
  
Nice students are sent here,  
  
Each and every one, quite a dear!  
  
You'll love me,  
  
Just you wait, you'll see.  
  
I'll send you where you ought to go,  
  
Just move along, go with the flow!  
  
The students in the Great Hall all applauded loudly, and the hat tipped its point, as if bowing.  
  
"Alright, now," Dumbledore started, "Let's get on with the sorting."  
  
All the students turned to stare at Dumbledore.  
  
"For the third time this evening: Allan, Gregory!" Dumbledore called.  
  
Gregory walked shyly to the stool, placed the hat on his head, and sat down.  
  
After a minute, the hat called, "Hufflepuff!" and the table on the far right cheered wildly.  
  
"Amonte, Alison!"  
  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
And so it went. "Bates, Shawn," "Berard, Carmen", "Cross, Cory," the list went on. Remus kept groaning. "Dawson, Jill," "Elias, Patrick," "Emerson, Amanda," and pretty soon, even Sirius was urging the hat to hurry up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the Sorting ended with "York, Melissa," going to Ravenclaw, and Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James cheered.  
  
"Thank you, boys, for that round of applause for the new first years. Now, before we start eating, let's go through some ground rules here at Hogwarts, shall we?" Dumbledore said.  
  
The boys all let out loud groans, but if Dumbledore heard, he didn't say anything. He just kept on talking. Finally, after twenty more minutes, the speech was over, and the plates were filled with scrumptious foods. Even Lily was hungry by this time, and they all ate heartily.  
  
After dinner, Gryffindor House followed the prefects diligently, not even Sirius or James pulling any stunts, as they had eaten quite a lot at dinner, and were clutching their stomachs with grimaces on their faces. Lily had given them no sympathy when the effects of eating half the food at the Gryffindor table started up.  
  
"Well, boys, what can I say," Lily smiled, "Suck it up," and she walked quickly to the front of the crowd of Gryffindors, who were nearing the end of the route to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
When they reached the common room, a sixth-year prefect gave the password (vertebrae) to a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress and the Gryffindors walked sleepily to their respected dormitories.  
  
James slept as soon as his head hit his pillow, if not before then, and he had a dreamless sleep. 


	2. Classes and Pranks

The next day, James woke up to find a very ugly, very green face staring straight back at him. James yelped, and jumped, but then stopped, and stared at the figure with the face, listening closely to the familiar laughter seeping from the very plastic mask.  
  
"Sirius! I'll get you for that!" James shouted, and ran at his best friend, a look of determination and amusement on his face.  
  
"AUGH!!!!!!!" Sirius shouted, as he toppled to the floor from James' bed, with James on top of him.  
  
"That wasn't funny! You scared the living hell out of me!" James exclaimed.  
  
"Good. Now there's just heaven to get out of you," Sirius retorted, as he wriggled free from James' grasp, and ran for the boys' bathroom, locking the door behind him.  
  
"Alohomora," James muttered, pointing his wand at the doorknob. The door flew open, and James saw Sirius crouched in a corner, his head down, shaking in what looked like fear, "Sirius?" James asked lightly.  
  
"Yes?" came a voice from behind him. James turned, and sure enough, there stood Sirius.  
  
"But- how did you- what- I'm," James sputtered out, clearly confused. Sirius started laughing, and pointed towards the still-shaking figure in the corner. James walked almost angrily to the figure, and pulled up the head. It was-  
  
"Remus! What the hell is going on here?" James shouted, anger replacing the shock he had shown earlier.  
  
"You should've seen your face!" Remus exclaimed, laughing uncontrollably. It was clear to James that the figure he had thought to be Sirius was not shaking in fear, but shaking in laughter.  
  
"Wait. So you were pretending to be Sirius the whole time?" James inquired. Remus nodded, "But you sounded exactly like Sirius!"  
  
"Yes. I've been perfecting his voice over the summer. I just thought I'd try it out," Remus shrugged, as if it were perfectly normal.  
  
"Well, Remus," James replied quickly, a sudden idea occurring to him, "I heard that they were going to be serving tree-shaped pancakes for breakfast!"  
  
"Really?!?!?" Remus exclaimed, his face lighting up with eagerness, "Well, we mustn't let others eat it all before we even get there! Let's go!"  
  
He jumped up, and ran out the door to the common room, and clearly, he was headed for the Great Hall.  
  
"Nice one, James," Sirius commented, slapping James a high-five.  
  
"I know," James replied, a grin on his face.  
  
The boys got dressed, and headed down to breakfast, only to meet a rather disgruntled Remus, seated with Lily and Peter.  
  
"'Morning, all!" James greeted, sitting down beside Peter, the farthest away he could get from Remus without being out of conversation-distance.  
  
"Good morning!" Lily replied cheerily, her smile faltering a little when she realized where James had sat down. It was highly unusual for him not to sit between everyone, so as to get as much into the conversation as possible. Obviously, Remus hadn't told her about the pancake incident. Lily looked like she was about to ask what was going on, but thought better of it, and handed out pieces of parchment.  
  
"What are these?" James asked while reaching for the paper Lily was handing to him.  
  
"Timetables. Professor McGonagall came around and handed them out before any of you came down," Lily explained.  
  
"What have we got first?" Sirius asked, not bothering to look at his own timetable.  
  
"Well, I don't know about you, but I've got Divination," James replied. They all looked, and sure enough, they all had Divination together.  
  
When they had all finished eating their meal, they went to their dormitories to get their things, and headed up to the Divination classroom, which took quite a while. When they got there, they climbed up the stairs and found themselves nearly suffocated by the aroma of perfume and heat mixed together. Through the dim lighting, James could see numerous pouffes and chairs, some scattered, most around small tables of five.  
  
James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, and Lily sat down at a nearby table by what appeared to be the back of the room, and set their things on the table.  
  
After a few minutes, the whole class was seated, but there was still no sign of a teacher anywhere. The Gryffindors were just starting to get worried that something had happened to the teacher, when-  
  
"Good morning, dears," came a sickly-sweet voice from behind a curtain. The Gryffindors stared at the curtain, and suddenly a woman stepped out from behind it and walked towards the front of the classroom. The eyes of the students followed her, and saw that she looked nothing like they thought a teacher should. This teacher had a long, broom-skirt, trailing behind her on the floor, and a rather frilly shirt. She was wearing loads of jewellery, half of which James thought had to be fake. Her eyes were misty, and her head looked weighed down by large, gaudy-looking earrings.  
  
Ten minutes later, the teacher, whose name they learned was Professor Sybil, had talked for ten minutes, droning something about how great they could turn to be. No one was really listening, as more than half the class was asleep from the intoxicating mist of perfume and heat surrounding them.  
  
Dear God, will this never end? James thought to himself as he listlessly stared up at the ceiling. Quite suddenly, he felt a weight on his right shoulder, and when he turned to look, he saw that it was just Remus, who had fallen into a deep slumber. James shook Remus off his shoulder, and Remus, instead of waking up, banged his head onto the table, still asleep. The noise, however, seemed to have jolted Professor Sybil out of her speech, because she suddenly seemed to realize that the only person who was somewhat listening, or at least was awake, was James.  
  
"Dear me! You children must have gone to bed quite late last night!" Professor Sybil stated quite loudly. Or at least loud enough for most of the students to wake up with a dazed expression on their face, "You should really be getting some sleep! I know that the lesson has barely begun, but I simply cannot teach with only one person listening!" Professor Sybil announced, looking pointedly at James, "Off you go. Get to bed! Get some sleep so you can stay awake through your next lesson!"  
  
The students didn't protest. They gathered their things and left the room, and as soon as they did, they felt fresh air around their bodies. Remus, who had been practically dragged out by Sirius was still half asleep, but as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he suddenly seemed alert, and certainly looked more attentive.  
  
"What's happened?" Remus questioned as the Gryffindors headed down to their common room.  
  
"Everyone fell asleep except James here," Sirius explained, nodding towards James, "So Sybil let us off and told us to get some rest."  
  
"How did you stay awake, James?" Peter asked, a look of awe on his face.  
  
"I guess I'm prone to perfume," James shrugged, "I mean, what else would you expect when my Aunt Delores comes over to visit for two weeks every summer? All that perfume in there is about how much she puts on every hour. I usually stay in my room when she comes, but sometimes I can get my mom to put an air-freshening charm on the house so we don't have to bear the stench as much." They all laughed at this.  
  
They had some time to kill before their next lesson, Herbology, so they wandered around aimlessly for half an hour or so, before finally heading outside towards the greenhouses. This time when they got there, the teacher, Professor Sprout, was ready and waiting. She started out by calling roll, and then began the usual introductory speech that all the students were used to on the first day each year.  
  
"Good morning. As you all know, on the first day, I like to tell you what sorts of things we will be learning this year, and also, what sorts of thing you would like to learn this year. Let's begin," Professor Sprout started. The lesson flew by, and before they knew it, the Gryffindors were headed to lunch.  
  
"What's after this?" Peter asked curiously, stuffing his pudgy face with some chicken.  
  
"Er…All we have left is Transfiguration," James replied, digging into his soup, but then noticed something on his timetable that shocked him, "Oh, and then we have…potions."  
  
"With the Slytherins again?" Lily asked cautiously. James merely nodded.  
  
"Great," Sirius sighed. There was a moment of silence and then, "Why the hell do we always end up having classes together with the Slytherins!?!? It's not fair! I mean, we've already had two years worth of classes with them! I don't think I can take much more with those f***ing b****es any longer!"  
  
He said this loud enough for heads to turn all through the Great Hall. It was lucky there were no teachers around. However, numerous Slytherins stood up and glared heavily at Sirius. But Sirius just stared back. After what seemed like ages of eating, every so often looking up to see the Slytherins pointing and jeering at them, it was time to head for Transfiguration.  
  
"I wonder who the new teacher will be," Lily said, trying to make conversation as they headed towards the assigned classroom. There was still tension from Sirius, and this had brought James' spirits down. Remus had a dazed expression on his face, while Peter was glancing worriedly at the others. The only reaction to Lily's statement was a grunt from Sirius. Lily took this as a bad sign, and the rest of the route was walked in silence.  
  
As the Gryffindors waited for their new Transfiguration teacher's arrival, James resorted to mindless doodling, since his friends weren't in their usual upbeat mood.  
  
Suddenly, a figure walked into the room. It had a human shape, which James was thankful for, and the figure was wearing a navy blue cloak. James fixed his eyes on the figure, much like his fellow Gryffindors, as the figure let down the hood of their cloak.  
  
It was a young witch, and when she took off her cloak completely, James saw that she was wearing black robes. She had her dark hair in a tight bun, and her mouth was formed in a tight line. She set her things on her desk, and stood in front of the staring students.  
  
"My name is Professor McGonagall, and I will be taking over the Transfiguration job. Just because I am new here, does not, under any circumstances, mean that I will allow any horseplay. You are here to learn, and I am here to teach. Let's leave it at that," Professor McGonagall started curtly, as she surveyed the students seated before her, "Now, we will begin with calling roll."  
  
The students were taken aback by her upfront attitude, and were very surprised to see that she was not at all nervous, something that they had not been expecting.  
  
"Sounds like she means it," Lily muttered to her friends.  
  
"That's not going to stop us from pulling anything," Sirius replied, a sly smile creeping along his face.  
  
"That's right," James agreed, his confidence building after the new teacher's speech.  
  
"Boys! In the back! You are not to talk while I am," Professor McGonagall snapped. A few of the students in the front row recoiled slightly, nervous looks on their faces.  
  
After what seemed like hours on the edge of his seat, waiting for class to end, end it finally did, and James walked quickly out of the room with his friends.  
  
Then, realizing what class they had next, James moaned, and wished to be back in Transfiguration. The five friends walked slowly to Potions, nearly being late for class, but they just made it on time, and received a cold stare from the Potions' teacher, Professor Zimmer. They didn't take this less-than-friendly greeting to heart, as Professor Zimmer was like that with all of his students. Including the Slytherins, which was hard to believe sometimes, as he was Head of Slytherin House.  
  
Surprisingly, the Slytherins did not appear to be angry with Sirius for his outburst earlier in the Great Hall. No more angry than usual, of course. They said nothing to the Gryffindors whatsoever, although James was sure he had heard Malfoy whispering something to Snape, and he thought it sounded a lot like 'Sirius'.  
  
When class ended, Sirius exhaled loudly, "Well, that was bearable. I don't know about you, but the only irritating voice I heard the whole time was Professor Zimmer's. Surprising, since the Slytherins always seem to have something to say." They all let out a small laugh, and then headed to their common room.  
  
The next few days went by quickly, and as it turned out, teachers gave third years much more work than they had in second year, so the students were engulfed in homework. Peter was especially having problems. He was a slow reader, and really, slow in general, so it took him awhile to think. While his friends were on their last piece of homework, he was still on his first. This caused him to whine a great deal, so much, that the others were about ready to strangle him.  
  
The Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts caught up to them, and soon James was persuading his friends to help him practise for the tryouts. He was going to try out last year, but was stuck in the hospital wing with lumps all over his body from a recent hex from Malfoy. He would've liked to try out for Seeker, but the Gryffindor team had already had a Seeker, and so he had trained to become well rounded in all the positions.  
  
Day in and day out until the day before the tryouts, James' friends were releasing Bludgers, seeing how fast and hard he could hit them, timing how fast he could catch the Snitch, helping his with his passing and receiving as Chaser, and pelting Quaffles at him from every angle, improving his saving skills as Keeper.  
  
By the night before tryouts, Sirius was saying, "Well James, with our help, you've become such a good player at every position, you have every chance at making it."  
  
"Yeah, you could be your own team," Remus joked. Out of nerves, James didn't even smile at his friends' attempts to raise his hopes.  
  
"Don't worry about it. You'll do fine," Lily repeated for about the thousandth time since they had started training.  
  
"Yeah. But will that be good enough?" James muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, but, not knowing what to say to this statement, they pretended they heard nothing as they walked from the field to the Gryffindor common room.  
  
The next morning, at breakfast ("Magenta-coloured marmalade! With green toast!" Remus had exclaimed), James was as nervous as they came, and hadn't said one word all morning. It didn't help that people were staring at the five of them as they ate their breakfast.  
  
"James?" Lily greeted tentatively, almost frightened of his mental state. James merely stared into her green eyes. Lily opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it, and looked at her cereal as she mushed it around with her spoon.  
  
No one said a word until the end of breakfast, though the staring from the other students kept on coming. Suddenly, Lily blurted out, "James! This is ridiculous! Not talking won't solve anything! If you're nervous, then talk to us! We'll help!"  
  
At this remark, James burst out laughing.  
  
"What?" Lily asked, a bit concerned, her brow creased. Remus, Peter, and Sirius held similar looks on their faces, as they stopped what they were doing and stared as James clutched his stomach. Finally, after a few minutes, he gained his composure and opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated.  
  
"Dear God, just say something!" Remus replied, clearly fed up with waiting.  
  
"I'm not nervous at all. The only reason I wasn't talking to you guys, is so I wouldn't blurt out the reason why everyone is staring at you," James replied, a grin on his face.  
  
"Staring at us?" Peter repeated, eyes wide, "I thought they were staring at you!"  
  
James chuckled, "Why would they be staring at me?"  
  
"Why would they be staring at us?" Sirius retorted.  
  
"Simply because you guys keep changing colour," James replied, as he picked up his spoon once more, and dug in on his cereal.  
  
"What? No we aren't!" Remus, Peter, Lily, and Sirius exclaimed at once, sending him a look that they clearly thought he was mad.  
  
"Well, not to you, you aren't. See, anyone who has the spell put upon them cannot see himself or herself changing colour by the naked eye. And they cannot see the colours changing on anyone else, either. Which makes it a perfect spell to place on someone," James explained with a grin, "Think of it as a thank-you for all the help you've given me over the past few days."  
  
"You call this a thank-you?" Lily cried out, looking consciously at the still-staring people.  
  
"He's just pulling our leg," Sirius stated.  
  
"There's no spell like that," Peter said, doubtfully.  
  
"Do I look good in orange?" Remus asked, clearly liking the idea of changing colours.  
  
"This isn't a very good thank-you!" Lily exclaimed, clearly distraught at the thought of changing colours all through breakfast without her knowing it.  
  
"You ARE just kidding, aren't you James?" Sirius asked, not as confident as he was before.  
  
"IS there a spell like that, James?" Peter questioned.  
  
"Seriously, because I've always thought I looked dashing in orange, but others have always given me strange looks," Remus stated.  
  
Lily was just about to say something, when James broke in, "Lily, it's a very good thank-you. You look quite good in all the colours, if I do say so myself," Lily blushed, "Sirius, I can assure you, I am NOT pulling your leg," Sirius sank into his chair, becoming very aware of the strange looks people were giving them, "Peter, you've probably never heard of it. That would be because I invented it," Peter suddenly looked at James as if he had just said he had created energy from dirt, "And Remus, no you do NOT look dashing in orange. Quite frankly, you look better in blue." Remus beamed, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Quidditch tryout to attend."  
  
"Wait just one minute! Aren't you going to change us back?" Lily asked, somewhat angrily, as James stood from his chair.  
  
James grinned, "Maybe, maybe not."  
  
"WHAT?!?!?!?" Sirius shouted, standing up, while in the process, knocking over his orange juice. Every student in the Great Hall turned to stare at him. He looked around, blushed and sat back down, "What?" he asked, more quietly this time, but anger still filled his voice, "Why won't you change us back?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" James asked, a look of mock puzzlement masked onto his face.  
  
"If it were, would I be asking?" Sirius answered in a flat voice.  
  
"Good point," James smiled, "I'm not going to change you back for numerous reasons. One, is that it's really very amusing to be sitting with my friends who are, for one moment, orange, and the next moment, yellow, and green, and blue, and purple, and red, and then back to orange. Two, because it's utterly hilarious to see the four of you staring around at everyone like they're seeing you without any clothes, and three, because I can't wait for you all to thank me when I get you some clothes for Christmas. This experience has shown me what colours you look best in." And with that, he walked out of the Great Hall, leaving his best friends still sitting at the table, completely awestruck.  
  
"Harrumph! Well, I'm certainly not going doing HIM any favours anytime soon," Lily stated stubbornly.  
  
"Likewise," Peter agreed.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe it WAS a good idea. Now I know not to wear those orange pants around anymore…" Remus said thoughtfully.  
  
"Remus, any one of us could have told you that if you'd simply asked," Sirius replied.  
  
"Well, that's wasn't a very nice thing to say, even if it is true," Lily cut in.  
  
"Yeah! You tell him, Lily!" Remus exclaimed.  
  
"Oh shut up, Remus," Sirius retorted, "Go eat some toast."  
  
"Glad to oblige," Remus replied, and grabbed some more of the green food.  
  
"Well, even if we are a tad angry at James, can we please go watch the tryouts?" Peter asked hopefully.  
  
"Yeah, I guess we should. Especially since we spent so much time helping him train," Sirius said, although it was clear to his friends that her just really wanted to see James make the team, no matter how ticked off he was.  
  
As they walked, Peter said, "You know, maybe we shouldn't be mad at James. People are certainly giving us a lot of attention. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knows who we are by now."  
  
"They would know anyway," Lily remarked, smiling, "There's not one student who James and Sirius haven't played a prank on. I'm sure they're on everyone's hit list."  
  
"True," Sirius said with a smile.  
  
"But you're right, Peter, we shouldn't be mad at James. But we're certainly not going to let him get away after this stunt," Lily replied, her eyes glinting, as a sly smile crept along her face.  
  
"I like that look," Sirius said, smiling, "What have you got in mind?" 


	3. The Tryout

James waited patiently for his turn as the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Craig Hopkins, called students wanting to try out, one by one, and evaluated his or her performances. Whenever he got nervous, or felt sick to his stomach, James remembered the trick he had played on his friends that morning at breakfast, and soon the nervousness faded, and he had to bite back a laugh.  
  
It had taken him two whole days to come up with that one spell, the days filled with frustration. But it was worth it in the end. His friends weren't the only people he had played this trick on. He had initially tried it out on his father while he was reading the evening paper, and at supper that night, he relished the look on his mother's face when she saw her husband with a cup of coffee in his hand, changing random colours as he waited for his dinner to be brought to him. James suspected that his parents wouldn't have realized that James was the one who had pulled the trick if he hadn't burst out laughing, and not stopped until ten minutes later. He had been grounded for two weeks, during which he spent the time in his room, coming up with more hexes and charms. Although, he had to put up with his older brother at meals, who kept shaking his head, and continuously stated that when he was James' age, he had never gotten caught. Which, of course, made James want to hex him right there on the spot, but restrained, as he didn't want to get grounded again, and miss out on the fun he knew his best friends were having without him on Diagon Alley.  
  
Suddenly, his thoughts were pushed away as he heard Craig call out, "Potter, James."  
  
He picked up his broom, a Stratus 3000, the best on the market, and flew to where the captain was, on the way, noticing bright colours coming from the stands. He looked, and saw none other than his best friends, patiently awaiting James' turn as they sat in the stands, trying very hard to ignore the continuous looks being shot at them from surrounding watchers.  
  
"What position are you trying out for?" Craig asked kindly, which was surprising, as he had been doing the tryouts for quite some time now, and it was getting very sunny and hot outside.  
  
"Anything available," James replied.  
  
"But, surely you have a specific position you want to try out for," Craig said, a tad confused. James shook his head. "So, you're saying to me that you would try out for ANY position available?"  
  
"Yes," James stated.  
  
"Alright…" Craig said, not quite believing it, "We only have two positions available: Seeker and Chaser."  
  
"That's fine. Which one should I try out for?" James asked.  
  
"Well, both if you want," Craig answered, a little taken aback by the quick, confident response, "Then we can see which one you're better at."  
  
"OK," James agreed, "Which one first?"  
  
"Well, try Chaser first. Holly Tugnutt, one of our Chasers, over there has the Quaffle. Now, you, Holly and Simon Bullard, our other Chaser, will be try different plays against me, the Keeper, and we'll see how well you do," Craig replied, his tone almost challenging, as he pointed over towards the Gryffindor Chasers.  
  
James flew over to the chasers, and when Craig was ready in his position at the goal posts, James flew forward, along with Holly and Simon, forming a Hawkeshead Formation, passing back and forth, going at dangerously high speeds, until finally, with one last pass from Holly, James diqued Craig, and scored.  
  
"Wow, Potter…that was amazing," was all Craig could muster, still in shock.  
  
"Not too bad, James," Simon nodded to James.  
  
"Seriously! How long did you train?!?!? It must've taken MONTHS to get that good!" Craig exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"If you make it as Chaser, we'll be sure to win the Quidditch Cup," Holly grinned.  
  
"Are we ever glad you're in Gryffindor! If you were in any other house, we would get slaughtered!" Craig exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks," James beamed, blushing deeply.  
  
"Right, now we still have to find a seeker," Craig said, reaching for his clipboard, looking at the rest of the names. He started to call, "Dani-"  
  
"Wait! I was going to try out for Seeker as well!" James exclaimed.  
  
"Yes, but how could we ever give up a Chaser like you?" Craig replied, as if this were an obvious reason.  
  
"At least let me try," James protested, realizing then that he really wanted to prove that he was just as good as a Seeker as he was as Chaser.  
  
"Alright," Craig gave in, "I'll let the Snitch go on the count of three. Wait ten seconds, and then try and find it. We'll time you. One, two, three!"  
  
James was off, zooming up above the field, he combed the pitch with his eyes, searching for the golden snitch. After only a minute of this, he directed his broom as fast as it would go to the center hoop on one side of the pitch. He clenched his fist around the golden ball, and with a look of triumph, he raced back to Craig, who was looking shocked.  
  
"O-o-one minute, th-th-th-thirty-five seconds, twenty-five m-m-m- milliseconds," Craig sputtered, a look of utter shock on his face, "That's got to be a record!"  
  
"When will you be posting the new players?" James asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Uh…Tomorrow night at dinner," Craig replied dismissively, still stunned by the talented Gryffindor.  
  
"Alright, see you," and with that, James flew back to the ground, only to meet his very yellow friends.  
  
"James! That was great!" Sirius exclaimed, patting his friend on the back.  
  
"They'll have to let you on the team now!" Lily cried out, giving James a quick congratulatory hug.  
  
"Did you see Craig Hopkins' face when he saw you out there?" Peter squealed.  
  
"He looked like he'd just figured out the true meaning of life," Remus stated matter-of-factly, and then, as an afterthought, "Or he'd just found a Chocolate Frog on the ground…"  
  
"Thanks, Remus," James replied, dryly.  
  
"What? It's true," Remus said.  
  
"Thanks for helping me out," James said honestly.  
  
"You don't have to say thanks. We already got your gift," Sirius replied lightly.  
  
"Speaking of which, are you going to take back any time soon?" Lily asked.  
  
"When I make the team, I'll take off the spell," James replied.  
  
"Well, I'd best be off," Remus said suddenly.  
  
"What? Where do you have to go?" James asked curiously.  
  
"Why, I've got to go bribe Craig to let you on the team, because I'm starting to think that I really don't look good in orange," Remus answered.  
  
"I don't think he'd need a bribe. He'd be happy to let James on the team," Peter piped up.  
  
"Why, thanks Peter," James said, raising his chin a bit.  
  
"Any time, James," Peter answered, his face lighting up from the recognition that he was even alive.  
  
"Well, you may be good on the Quidditch pitch, James, but you're no match for me when it comes to Wizards' Chess," Lily spoke up.  
  
"Is that so?" James asked, folding his arms, and raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Yes, that's so," Lily replied, doing a perfect impersonation of James, not only by the tone of his voice, but his expression and actions as well.  
  
"Well, I challenge you to a game of Wizards' Chess as soon as I put my broom away," James challenged.  
  
"I accept. I'll meet you in the common room in ten minutes," Lily accepted.  
  
"You're going down, Potter," Sirius said, a mysterious glint in his eyes.  
  
"We'll see about that, Black," James retorted, backing away in the direction of the broom shed.  
  
"See you in ten," Lily said casually, a hint of glee in her tone of voice.  
  
As they walked away, James couldn't help thinking, Why was she so happy to play Wizards' Chess with me? And why did she even bring it up in the first place? He brushed the thoughts away, as he put his broom in the shed with the rest of the brooms, and was just turning back when he heard a rustling in a nearby bush.  
  
"Who's there?" James called, quickly yanking his wand out of his robe pocket.  
  
He heard nothing, so he walked to the steps of the castle, with the tingly feeling on the back of his neck that someone was watching him. 


	4. Payback

James walked quickly up to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Sirius, Remus, and Peter surrounding Lily, who was sitting in a large comfortable-looking chair. In front of her was a small table with a Wizards' Chess game set up, ready to be played. On the other side of the table, was another chair, much like Lily's, which James sat down in.  
  
"You're late, Potter," Lily stated, as she and the others stared at James.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that. Got sort of side-tracked," James replied, deciding not to tell them about the rustling bush and the feeling that he was being watched. They probably would've laughed and told him he was losing his nerve.  
  
The game began, and his friends were acting oddly nice towards him. Usually, they joked around, but suddenly, it seemed like they were all bending over backwards to help him. First, Remus asked James if he was feeling warm, and needed a cold towel for his forehead. James gladly accepted, not feeling the least bit suspicious, as he had his full concentration on the game against Lily. Then, Peter told him that maybe he needed a new shirt since he had worked so hard at Quidditch practise and all, so Peter brought down a clean new shirt just for James, which James quickly exchanged for his dirty T-shirt. James thought this a little odd, but thought nothing of it, as the rest of his friends dismissed it casually. Besides, James knew Peter thought James was practically a god, and figured he was just trying to be nice. Finally, Sirius asked him if he would like some pumpkin juice, since he hadn't had anything at breakfast, and must be a bit thirsty. James took the drink, but was getting very suspicious, since Sirius always said that if James wanted something, then he could go get it himself. Unless of course, Sirius' mother was in the room. That's when Sirius would gladly get anything James liked for him.  
  
"Checkmate!" Lily exclaimed, "Told you I'd beat you!"  
  
"Yeah, well I'll get you next time," James replied. His friends burst out laughing. Sirius was laughing so hard that tears were spilling down his face.  
  
"What?" James asked, confused. This caused his friends to laugh even harder.  
  
"WHAT IS IT?!?!?!?!?!" James shouted over the mounting laughter. Everyone in the Gryffindor common room started laughing now, some even more than his friends. James was getting angry now. He ran down to the Great Hall, and he noticed that he was the first one there.  
  
He ate his lunch slowly, going over what had just happened in his head. Suddenly, a throng of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff students walked in the Hall. Several Gryffindor students giggled when they saw James, but sat down and didn't say anything to him.  
  
James soon spotted Sirius, Remus, Lily and Peter, and they walked quickly over to him and sat down with grins on their faces.  
  
"What happened in the common room? Why was everyone laughing?" James asked. His friends' grins grew wider, if that was possible, but they restrained themselves from laughing.  
  
"Well, James," Sirius started to explain, "We wanted to get you back for what you did to us earlier. So, we played a little trick on you."  
  
Alarmed, James looked to each one of his friends' faces, and asked, "What did you do?"  
  
"Well, first, I got you a cold towel. Little did you know that we placed a charm on it so when it touches skin, it leaves a message," Remus explained.  
  
James reached to touch his forehead and then asked, "What sort of message?"  
  
"It says, 'I am a bloody idiot'" Sirius told him, trying hard not to laugh.  
  
"What?!?!?!?" James exclaimed, putting his hand over his forehead, trying to cover the message.  
  
"You heard right. And that's not all," Lily said mischievously.  
  
"Oh dear god, what else did you do?" James asked, regretting the answer.  
  
"Well, remember that shirt Peter gave you?" Remus asked. James nodded, "Well, little did you know when you were putting it on, that we had put a charm on it to make it say, 'James Potter is a prat' in 10 different languages, and in three shades of blue. My idea, of course. And the best part is, you can't take it off."  
  
James looked down, and noticed, for the first time, that the shirt did indeed say 'James Potter is a prat' in 10 different languages. Or to James, what looked like 10 different languages. He could only read the one in English.  
  
"And finally," Lily said, taking a deep breath.  
  
"There's more?" James inquired, tentatively. Lily nodded.  
  
"Remember that drink that Sirius gave you?" she asked him.  
  
"Yes…" James replied cautiously, not sure he wanted to know what she was going to say.  
  
"Well, it can make you speak any language Sirius wants it to. At the flick of his wand, he can make you speak English, or French, or Italian, or even Parseltongue," Lily explained.  
  
"People were laughing at me because I was speaking Parseltongue?" James asked, slightly confused, "Wouldn't they be scared if I were speaking Parseltongue?"  
  
"You weren't speaking Parseltongue, James. Sirius was making you speak Gibberish," Peter piped up.  
  
"GIBBERISH!?!?!?!?!?" James shouted in disbelief.  
  
The whole Hall was looking at him strangely.  
  
"See? You were just speaking Greek," Remus explained.  
  
"Greek?" James whispered.  
  
"Yes, Greek," Remus confirmed.  
  
"Well, take the spell off of me! And take the message of my forehead!" James demanded.  
  
"Nope. Not until exactly five hours after you take our spells off," Lily answered.  
  
"First of all, no way am I taking your spells off until I make the team, and second of all, why five hours?" James asked.  
  
"Because then you'd have that ridiculous get-up on for the exact same amount of time we have ours on," Remus explained.  
  
"This is crazy!" James stated.  
  
"It may be crazy, but it's fair," Peter spoke up.  
  
"So you're telling me, that I have to walk around all day and probably all day tomorrow looking like this, until I take your spell off?" James asked, "And talk in any language SIRIUS chooses?"  
  
They all nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Great," James muttered, "I'm going upstairs…see you all later."  
  
"What was that? Sorry, I couldn't understand what you were saying…you were speaking German," Remus said.  
  
James sighed and walked up to his dormitory. He lay down on his bed, and actually finished his weekend homework. Even he was amazed that he had finished on a SATURDAY. Usually he would be hanging out with his friends in the common room, having fun and playing games. But today, he couldn't trust them. Who knows what language they would get him to speak next, and god knows how much of a prat he'd look like with his shirt and the message on his forehead.  
  
James stayed holed up in the dorm all the rest of the day, all night, and all the next day. He didn't even go downstairs to eat meals, and instead ate from his stash of candy by his bed. He refused to talk to Remus, Peter or Sirius when they came in, and shut up his four-poster tightly.  
  
However, the next evening, he couldn't help but walk down to the common room to see who had made the Quidditch team. He walked cautiously to the wall in the common room where Gryffindor notices were pinned up as reminders and notices, aware of some stares at his outfit. He searched for the Quidditch Team paper, and noticed it, in yellow paper, with a bold font:  
  
Gryffindor Quidditch Team  
  
Chasers:  
  
Simon Bullard  
  
Holly Tugnutt  
  
Greg Nielson  
  
Keeper:  
  
Craig Hopkins  
  
Beaters:  
  
Shane Torkiss  
  
Mitch Rutledge  
  
Seeker:  
  
James Potter  
  
  
  
James leaped for joy, and shouted with glee. He didn't care that all the Gryffindors were staring at him as if he'd gone insane. He was so happy, he wouldn't care if he let Malfoy and Snape see him in his outfit.  
  
James ran to his friends, who were looking at him cautiously, and performed the counter-curse for the colour-changing charm. They grinned at him, and gave him their congratulations.  
  
"You know James, I think you've been a good boy. Shall we let him out of his curse early?" Lily questioned.  
  
"Yeah, alright…" Remus gave in.  
  
"But-" Sirius started, but Lily cut in.  
  
"Sirius, what we did to him was much worse than what he did to us. I feel sort of sorry for him. Come on, let him have the right to decide what language he wants to speak in," Lily insisted.  
  
They all performed the three counter-curses, and James was free.  
  
"Hey, Evans? How about a rematch?" James asked, referring to Wizards' Chess.  
  
"You're on, Potter," Lily replied, and the rest of the night was spent happily.  
  
Days went by. James was training especially hard with the rest of the Quidditch team, and juggling homework, as well. When James wasn't around, his friends played Gobstones and chess to pass the time.  
  
Soon enough, it was nearly Halloween, and Craig was giving the Quidditch team a short break from training. Bored as ever, as there are only so many rounds of Gobstones a person can sit through, James proposed an idea.  
  
"You all know what holiday is coming up," James said, more as a statement than as a question.  
  
"Gee, I wonder…oh, I know! My birthday!" Remus exclaimed.  
  
"First of all, you know perfectly well what holiday is coming up. Second of all, your birthday is not a holiday, and third of all, your birthday was in July," Sirius stated, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Geez, can't a guy at least plot ways to get some presents around here?" Remus asked, in response to Sirius.  
  
"NO!" exclaimed James, Sirius, Peter, and Lily.  
  
"Well, I never…" Remus started, but then dropped his voice to a low muttering.  
  
"Anyways…what were you saying about holidays, James?" Lily asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Well, as we all know, Halloween is coming, and I propose we have a little fun," James said, mischievously.  
  
"What sort of fun do you have in mind?" Sirius asked curiously.  
  
"Well, first, I thought our victims should be…" James started. The others leaned in close so no one could hear, and before long, their plan was decided. 


	5. Slytherin vs. Gryffindor

The next day, James and his friends went to their classes as usual, and to be on the safe side, didn't pull any pranks. After their stunt they were going to pull on Halloween, they didn't want to look like the guilty, obvious ones.  
  
"Wow. Today wasn't as much fun as usual," Remus stated at dinner.  
  
"Maybe that's because you actually listened in class for once," Sirius retorted.  
  
"Oh… right, that's how you guys get good marks…" Remus said, knowingly, "No wonder I almost fail every single time."  
  
"Serves you right," Lily chuckled.  
  
"So when exactly are we going to…you know…" Peter asked cautiously, not wanting to say what it was, because there were other students within hearing distance.  
  
"Peter!" Sirius exclaimed, shooting daggers at Peter with his eyes, "Not here!"  
  
He said this loudly enough to bring even more attention to him and his friends, so it took a minute or two for the other students to turn back to their own conversation.  
  
"Sorry," Peter said in a small voice, hunching in fear.  
  
When the friends were out of the Great Hall, and on their way back to the common room to get their books, Sirius said, "We'll do it after the Quidditch game tomorrow."  
  
Everyone agreed to this arrangement, and James grinned at the thought of the match the next day. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. He couldn't wait to play, since Malfoy was on the other team as a seeker as well, and James wanted to whip Slytherin as badly as possible. Slytherin and Gryffindor had always been the main rivals at Hogwarts when it came to Quidditch, with Slytherin usually coming out as the winners. James was determined to show that Gryffindor was better than Slytherin, and he was hoping to be the one to prove it.  
  
"You're all coming to the match tomorrow, right?" James asked.  
  
"Does Remus like breakfast?" Sirius asked, "Of course we're coming! Why would you even ask that? Even if you didn't make the team we would go! We've gone to every Quidditch match available since we came to this school. Even the ones with Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff! And that's saying something, since they're games are usually SO boring!"  
  
"Alright, alright. It was just a question!" James replied, raising his hands defensively, "You don't have to bite my head off!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah…" Sirius answered, although he was smiling.  
  
No Gryffindor could wait until the match the next day. Everyone stayed up late the night before the game, chatting excitedly about who they thought would win, and the new players, and how much better Gryffindor was than Slytherin.  
  
At breakfast, Sirius stated the obvious, "Malfoy got onto the team because his father is rich. He's no good at Quidditch. Come to think of it, he's not good at anything… Anyways… you know James, if he catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna bash your head through the wall…"  
  
"Thanks so much for your unfaltering support, Sirius," James said, a greenish tinge in his face.  
  
"Any time, James!" Sirius replied, turning back to his breakfast.  
  
The air between the friends was quiet. Sirius, feeling he had to say something, announced, "You know James, if Malfoy catches the Snitch before you do, there's gonna be a whole lot of Gryffindors in our common room tonight that are gonna wanna detach your neck from your head and torso, and feed it to the vultures…"  
  
"Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, shocked.  
  
"What?!?!?!?" Sirius replied.  
  
"There are no vultures anywhere near here!" Remus stated matter-of-factly. Everyone laughed, until finally Craig stood up from the far side of the Gryffindor table, and announced, "Team! Come on!"  
  
"I better go. See y'all later!" James said, and departed from the table.  
  
"Ya'll? Where does he think he's from? Texas?" Lily asked.  
  
"Texas?" Sirius repeated, dumbfounded.  
  
"Yeah. It's in the States. My family and I visited it in the summer a couple years back. They say words like, 'y'all' and they have funny accents," Lily explained, "But they didn't think they had an accent! They thought I had an accent!"  
  
"That's crazy! We sound exactly like you, and we don't have accents!" Peter burst out.  
  
"Oh well. Time to get to the match," Remus said, standing up from the table.  
  
"Yeah, we better go," Sirius said, and the four walked out of the Great Hall, and down the stone steps of the school, leading to the Quidditch pitch.  
  
Remus, Peter, Sirius and Lily walked to the top of row of the stands, and sat, waiting anxiously for the match to start.  
  
"It should have started by now," Sirius declared, frowning, "I wonder what's going on."  
  
"I'll go see what the problem is," Remus said, trying to look brave as he walked about 10 feet, before reaching a box behind a wall of glass, where Professor McGonagall was sitting, arms crossed, looking angry. Remus walked around behind the glass, chatting briefly with Professor McGonagall with a large grin on his face.  
  
"What are you smiling about?" Lily asked Remus curiously.  
  
"Sebastian Whyte, last year's announcer, from Ravenclaw, didn't show up to announce the match. McGonagall pretty ticked. She said she can't start the game without the commentator," Remus explained, still grinning broadly.  
  
"Is there more, or are you just grinning like an idiot for no apparent reason?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Oh, there's more," Remus replied, "She wants me to commentate! ME! Can you believe that?"  
  
"That's great, Remus!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"Yeah, I know!" Remus answered, giddy, "AND she said you guys could come sit in the box with us, if you want!" Remus added.  
  
"Sure!" Peter exclaimed excitedly.  
  
The four walked to the box, and Remus sat down in the center of the row behind the glass.  
  
Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at his throat, and said, "Sonorus."  
  
For a moment, Remus looked frightened at the prospect of being heard by everyone, but after a quick nudge from Lily, he got over his fears and welcomed the crowd.  
  
"Welcome to the first match of the season! We've got Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, in what looks promising to be a very close match-up!" Remus started.  
  
The fans cheered wildly, and this seemed to rev Remus on, causing him to get very excited.  
  
"And now, we have the Slytherin team! First comes Quidditch captain, and Keeper, Mark Bechtel! Next we have beaters Greg Lidstrom, and Tom Salo! After them are chasers Nicole Nylander, Dave Chapman, and Becky Streit!" Remus announced, seeming quite cheerful, but for the next part, he uttered it, and everyone in crowd, except the Slytherins, who were farthest away heard, "And last, we have the Slytherin seeker, who by the way, has utterly no Quidditch talent, and the only reason he's on this team is because he bought his way on, is Lucius Malfoy!" The crowd laughed, except the Slytherins, who were jeering loudly about an announcer that couldn't even be heard.  
  
"And now, we have the Gryffindor team!" he paused here, waiting for the exceptionally louder cheers for the Gryffindors to subside, and when they did, continued, "As Keeper and captain of the Gryffindor team, we have Craig Hopkins! And not too far away we have beaters Shane Torkiss and Mitch Rutledge! Next we have chasers Holly Tugnutt, Greg Nielson, and Simon Bullard! And last, we have one of the newest additions to the team, the amazingly talented seeker, whom the team was very lucky to find, may I introduce, James Potteerrrrrrrrr!!!!!" he let the last word drone for a few seconds, and then stopped after a stern glance from Professor McGonagall. However, the crowd cheered extremely loudly, infuriating the Slytherins, who booed loudly, and when Remus turned to look, he saw Malfoy looking practically ready to kill Remus.  
  
But just then, Madam Hooch walked onto the field and after a very brief handshake between the two captains she blew her whistle. All fifteen brooms shot up into the air, and the game had begun.  
  
"And they're off! It's Gryffindor Simon Bullard with the Quaffle, passes to Tugnutt, who attempts a pass across the pitch to Nielson, but the pass is intercepted by Becky Streit of Slytherin, who streaks down the pitch, and she's on a breakaway...She's gonna shoot! Whoa! Nice bludger work there by Rutledge, who hit Streit in the stomach! Lucky break there for Hopkins!" Remus shouted. Lily, Sirius, and Peter were astonished at hot incredibly fast Remus was talking. He was not usually like this. Remus turned to them, smiled, and quickly turned his head back to the game, "And the Quaffle is taken by Bullard, who passes to Nielson, to Tugnutt, back to Nielson, who diqued Bechtel, and GRYFFINDOR SCORES!!!!!! It's 10-0 Gryffindor!"  
  
Three-quarters of the crowd were cheering and jumping up and down like mad, but the others, mainly Slytherins, were sulking in their seats, as they didn't have much to cheer about.  
  
Not for long though. The Slytherin Chasers came back out of nowhere, and before anyone knew what exactly was happening, it was 80-10 Slytherin.  
  
"And Gryffindor captain Craig Hopkins is calling for a time-out. No doubt giving his team a wake-up call," Remus stated, shaking his head.  
  
Five minutes later, the teams were back in the air, and James was trying very hard indeed to look for the Snitch. The one time James saw it, Greg Lidstrom had sent a Bludger right by his head, a narrow miss, and the Snitch was gone.  
  
Wait, what's that? James thought, turning his head quickly, spotting a golden glint from the corner of his eye. The Snitch! James thought.  
  
"It looks as though James Potter has seen the Snitch! But wait, so has Lucius Malfoy! They're neck-and-neck, flying towards the Gryffindor goalposts at breakneck speeds! Who will get it?" Remus shouted.  
  
The crowd was on their feet, craning their necks to see what was happening. Play between the rest of the teams had stopped, and everyone was watching Malfoy and James, desperately trying to beat the other to the golden ball.  
  
Almost there, James thought to himself. He thrust his hand forward, as did Malfoy. It's all a matter of luck, now, James thought, as the Snitch drew nearer.  
  
They were nearing the Snitch, they were almost there...They were going...going...  
  
"They've gone past it!" Remus announced to the anticipated stadium, "Wait...if they've gone past it, then where is it?"  
  
The crowd was very confused. But no one was more confused than Malfoy and James.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" Malfoy yelled.  
  
"I dun-" James started to say, but was interrupted by movement under his robes, "What the-?"  
  
The Snitch had somehow gone up his sleeve as him and Malfoy were racing. The golden ball was squirming underneath his robes, searching for an exit.  
  
Malfoy was shocked. He appeared to be frozen on his broom, staring at James as James tried to release the Snitch. Suddenly Malfoy lunged for James, attacking his robes, attempting to reach for the Snitch. Even if it meant knocking James off of his broom.  
  
The rest of the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams were trying to get James and Malfoy apart.  
  
The crowd was having trouble seeing what exactly was happening. Remus was just as confused as ever.  
  
Suddenly, the audience saw a small golden ball fly from out of the crowd of Quidditch players, and were yelling excitedly.  
  
"Look! It's the Snitch!" Remus shouted.  
  
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.  
  
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.  
  
Malfoy and James somehow got out from the center of the herd of players, and were again fighting to get the Snitch.  
  
"Who's got it?" Remus yelped, craning his neck to see who had gotten the Snitch.  
  
James veered away from Malfoy with a look of triumph on his face.  
  
"James Potter has gotten the Snitch! It's all over! Gryffindor has won!" Remus shouted excitedly. You could barely hear him though, because of the reaction of the crowd.  
  
Most were cheering and whooping as loud as humanly possible, while others were booing and swearing, also very loudly.  
  
The Gryffindor team was also cheering, and flew to the ground, grins plastered on their faces, and engulfed James in a group hug when their feet touched the earth.  
  
While Peter and Remus were cheering, Lily and Sirius started dancing around in circles, beyond joy.  
  
"Look at Malfoy!" Remus said suddenly, causing not only his friends, but practically everyone in the stadium to turn and look at the Slytherin.  
  
Lucius Malfoy was sulking on the Quidditch pitch, weeping, trying to be subtle so as people wouldnt notice.  
  
But thanks to Remus, everyone did, and the laughing was uncontrollable.  
  
"No one's gonna forget that any time soon," Sirius commented through peals of laughter, as Malfoy ran to the Slytherin change rooms, trying to hide his face.  
  
"Who's that?" Lily asked suddenly.  
  
"Who's who?" Sirius questioned.  
  
"There! By the Gryffindor change rooms!" Lily shouted.  
  
They all turned and looked, and saw a figure, all in black, exiting the change rooms, and walking quickly to the lake.  
  
"Beats me," Remus answered.  
  
Several people in the stands turned to look at him, confused, but then Professor McGonagall, whom the friends had forgotten was even there, pointed her wand at Remus' throat, muttered something no one could hear, and the next time Remus said something, it was in his usual tone and volume of voice.  
  
"He looked suspicious to me," Lily said.  
  
"Who looked suspicious to you?" Sirius asked, confused.  
  
"The figure!" Lily answered impatiently.  
  
"I'm sure it was no one. Forget about it," Sirius attempted to assure Lily.  
  
But Lily wasn't so sure. 


	6. The Black Box

Later, in the Gryffindor common room, Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, and pretty much all the rest of the Gryffindors sat, awaiting the arrival of the Gryffindor Quidditch team anxiously.  
  
When they did arrive, pandemonium broke loose. There was wild stamping and cheering, and the Quidditch team looked slightly nonplussed by the reaction.  
  
Loads of food came from nowhere, although Lily was almost positive that Sirius, Remus, and Peter had something to do with the sudden arrival.  
  
After an hour or two of talking, eating, and smiles, the Gryffindors seemed to be getting a little bored.  
  
"We can't have that!" Sirius exclaimed, "Isn't there something we can do to spice things up a little?"  
  
"Hang on," Lily answered, after a minute of silent thinking between the friends.  
  
"Where's she off to?" James asked, as Lily ran up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.  
  
"The girls' dormitory," Remus answered humbly.  
  
"Well, I know THAT!" James retorted, "But what's she doing there?"  
  
"Well, she's here. You can ask her yourself," Sirius pointed out.  
  
He was right. Lily was hurrying down the stairs, with a black box in her hand. The box had a few different buttons on them, and James was sure he had never seen anything like it.  
  
"What is THAT?" Remus asked, a look of wonder crossing his face, as Lily reached them.  
  
"THIS," Lily answered, "is a boom box. It's a Muggle contraption that plays music."  
  
"Like a radio?" James asked, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Sort of," Lily replied.  
  
"So are you gonna play some music, then?" Sirius asked, as if not believing what Lily was saying. Who'd ever heard of naming something a boom box?  
  
"Alright, then," Lily answered, as she set up the black box on a nearby table, receiving curious looks from nearby Gryffindors, "Shoot! I forgot the CD's! I'll be right back!" And she hurried up the stairs to the girls' dormitory yet again.  
  
"CD's?" James repeated, "What's she talking about?"  
  
Lily soon hurried back down the stairs with a large brown box.  
  
"That's a CD?" Sirius asked, scornfully, "That's what I would call a box. A large brown box."  
  
"The CD's are IN the box, stupid," Lily answered. She reached inside the box, and pulled out what appeared to James to be a slim, square box. It had a picture of a young-looking man on it. And it wasn't moving.  
  
"What kind of picture is that?" James asked, "It's not even moving!"  
  
"That's because it's a Muggle picture," Lily answered, as she pressed one of the buttons on the black box. A thin sort of tray opened out, and Lily opened the box with the non-moving picture on the front. She pulled out a round, thin, shiny piece of metal, it looked like, and placed it in the tray of the black box. She pressed another button, and the tray went back into the black box.  
  
"What are you doing?" Remus asked cautiously.  
  
"I'm putting a CD in the boom box," Lily answered, as if this were obvious.  
  
By now, several eyes were on Lily and the black box, as Lily pressed yet another button on the black box, and waited.  
  
"What's going to hap-" Sirius started, but he was interrupted by some sort of music coming from the black box, or as Lily called it, a 'boom box'.  
  
"Every time I look up, I can see it in your face you wanna hook up with me," the music sang.  
  
"Who's singing this music?" Remus asked Lily.  
  
"Usher!" Lily exclaimed as if this were obvious.  
  
"WHO!?!?!?" practically everyone in Gryffindor shouted at her.  
  
"USHER!!!!" Lily yelled back. She then held up the box with the picture on it, and showed it to everyone.  
  
"That's Usher?" Sirius asked Lily.  
  
"Yes," Lily replied.  
  
"Wait, you had this boom box thing in your dorm and you didn't even tell us about it?" James asked, disbelieving.  
  
"Well, yes! No one knew actually. I kept it by my bed, and made the curtains sound-proof," Lily answered indignantly.  
  
Not many people heard her. Most were listening to the music, shaking their heads to the beat. Some older students even stood up and were starting to dance.  
  
"I don't really like this music," Peter stated shyly, "Could we please change it?"  
  
"Yeah, sure! There's a whole bunch of other CD's in the brown box," Lily replied, as she sat down with a Butterbeer.  
  
The boom box and Lily's music really did spice up the party after that. People seemed to be having a much better time, as dancing was now included on the list of things to do. Remus, Peter, Sirius, Lily, and James manned the boom box, and changed the music every now and then, trying to reach everyone's different liking of types of music.  
  
The party ended many hours after Lily's brilliant idea. After a long night of celebrating Gryffindor's triumph, the whole house only went to bed around the later hours of the morning. 


	7. The Invisible Something

Thud.  
  
What was that? Lily thought to herself, as she jerked up from her comfortable pillow. She checked the watch on her wrist, and saw that it read 2:30. She had only been asleep for a few hours.  
  
Not being able to fall back asleep, Lily slowly stood up from her bed and walked towards the door leading to the common room. On the way, she noticed that the rest of the girls weren't up yet.  
  
Walking downstairs to the empty common room, Lily looked around for what might have made the loud sound that had waken her up.  
  
After a few minutes, Lily could see nothing that had made the commotion, and started to head back upstairs to change, when she heard the unmistakeable swish of a cloak.  
  
Lily turned quickly, but saw nothing.  
  
"Hello?" Lily said nervously, venturing a step forward, "James, is that you?" Lily knew of the Invisiblity Cloak that was in James' possession. She had used it countless times herself, playing pranks on whomever she currently held a grudge against, or whomever she thought would scream the loudest.  
  
She heard the creak of a door, and turned just in time to see the portrait hole open and close.  
  
More frightened than she had ever been before, Lily ran up to the boys' dormitories. She swung open the door of the third year dormitory, and found Peter, Remus, James, and Sirius all sound asleep in their beds.  
  
Who could it have been, then? Lily thought, very afraid indeed. Deciding to head to her own dormitory until the other Gryffindors woke up, she walked silently out the dormitory door, and closed it with a slight click.  
  
Lily walked up to her own dormitory, and collapsed on her bed. After such a build-up of anticipation, Lily felt quite tired, and fell asleep straight away.  
  
About an hour later, Victoria awoke. Victoria Briche (pronounced Breesh), a third-year in Lily's dormitory, was about to get up and go to the common room, but then knew she would have no one to talk to.  
  
I need a friend. A girl. One that I can really talk to. About things that matter; and even things that don't. Victoria sighed. Suddenly, an urge for someone like that in her life came to her. But who would want to be friends with me? Suddenly, it came to her. Lily. Lily had always been nice enough to her, but she had always hung around James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. The two girls had never really been close. Well, that's about to change. Victoria thought, a sudden confidence overpowering her, as she walked over to Lily's bed, and shook her awake.  
  
"Huh?" Lily heard herself say as she was shaken awake by one of the girls in her dorm, Victoria.  
  
"Wake up! It's already 3:45! I bet half the Gryffindors are up by now!" Victoria cried.  
  
Lily found it slightly odd that Victoria was waking her up. Usually, she kept to herself. She didn't have very many friends, this Lily knew, so Lily decided it might be nice to be friends with her. After all, Lily knew what it was like to feel alone, having been alone (Petunia didn't count) for 11 years of her own life.  
  
"'Morning Victoria!" Lily answered cheerfully. Victoria looked a little taken aback by this reaction, but quickly recovered herself, and put a grin on her face. A real one, too. Not one of those fake ones plastered on by the rest of the Barbie Dolls in Lily's dorm.  
  
The girls quickly changed, and walked down to the common room. Victoria was right; the common room looked to be occupied by at least half of the Gryffindors. Mostly older students, Lily found. However, Lily saw that Remus, James, Peter, and Sirius were also up, and were playing Gobstones.  
  
"Where do you wanna sit?" Lily asked Victoria casually.  
  
"Anywhere is fine," Victoria replied, her light skin changing to a slightly pinker tinge.  
  
"Do you wanna go sit with the boys?" Lily questioned, referring to Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James, who had now seen Lily, and were waving for them to join them.  
  
"Alright, but I wouldn't know what to say," Victoria replied, her cheeks now turning a darker pink.  
  
"Why not? They're just boys," Lily reasoned.  
  
"No, it's just...," Victoria trailed off.  
  
"Just what?" Lily asked curiously.  
  
"Well...okay, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell a soul," Victoria stated.  
  
"Promise," Lily consented.  
  
"Alright, well...I kind of have a thing for Sirius," Victoria admitted, digging her toe into the floor, while staring at her feet with her hands in her robe pockets.  
  
"Well, don't worry, Victoria. I won't tell a soul," Lily swore.  
  
"Thanks, Lily. You're a good friend," Victoria replied, grinning at Lily.  
  
This time it was Lily's turn to blush, "Thanks, Victoria. You are, too. And I promise, you won't be nervous sitting with Sirius and the rest of them anyways...I'll make sure of it." Lily turned to stare at the boys, who were still trying to get the girls' attention.  
  
"Oh, and Lily?" Victoria asked. Lily turned to look at Victoria, "Call me Vic."  
  
"Okay," Lily answered. They both grinned, and set off through the maze of students, making their way towards the chairs in front of the fire, when the boys were sitting.  
  
"Checkmate!" James cried about an hour later.  
  
"Aww...," Sirius pouted. Lily grinned and turned to Vic, who looked back at Lily and blushed.  
  
What's up with that? James thought to himself.  
  
"This is getting boring, you guys," Lily stated, sitting forward from her position on the floor.  
  
"Well, do you have any better ideas?" Remus asked.  
  
"Well, umm...," Lily said, biting her lip.  
  
"Exactly," Remus replied, as he set up the board once again.  
  
"No, Remus. Lily's right. This IS getting boring," Sirius stated tactfully.  
  
"Well, then, what are we going to do with our spare time?" Remus retorted hotly.  
  
"There's got to be SOMETHING," James cut in, just as Sirius was about to say something. Something stupid, knowing him, James thought.  
  
"Let's think," Peter suggested. James rolled his eyes, I think that's what everyone was already doing.  
  
After a minute or two of complete silence, Vic suggested doubtfully, "We could just walk around the school."  
  
"Yeah, but what if one of the teachers caught us?" Peter replied.  
  
"Well, we'll think of some excuse. Anything's better than this," Sirius stated.  
  
"True," Remus admitted.  
  
"Well then, let's go!" James said cheerfully, as he got up, and helped Lily off the ground.  
  
Once outside the Gryffindor common room, the five friends walked down to the Great Hall, which of course, was empty.  
  
"I'm hungry," Remus stated, "I didn't even get to eat breakfast this morning!"  
  
"Wow!" Sirius said.  
  
"What is it?" Victoria asked as curiously as the others felt.  
  
"I'm amazed! I never thought I'd see the day when Remus Henry Lupin missed breakfast!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
The others burst out laughing, even Remus, who tried to look angry, but wasn't very successful.  
  
"There's a first time for everything," Lily stated when everyone had stopped laughing.  
  
"You know, I AM a little hungry," Victoria admitted, looking around at the others.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Everyone agreed.  
  
"But they won't serve any food in here until dinner!" Remus exclaimed, looking around the Great Hall.  
  
"Why don't we try and look for the kitchens? Maybe some of the cooks will be willing to let us have something to eat!" James suggested.  
  
"Yeah, maybe!" Sirius exclaimed, his eyes lighting up, "Then we can add it to the-"  
  
He couldn't finish his sentence, because James had put his hand over Sirius' mouth, giving him a look.  
  
The boys looked nervously at the girls, but after a few moments, James recovered himself, and said, "Well, let's go!"  
  
The five walked around for forty-five minutes, opening doors, asking numerous portraits, questioning the Gryffindor resident ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, and inquiring suits of armour of the whereabouts of the kitchens.  
  
Just as they were about to go down a staircase leading to the dungeons, they heard a thud.  
  
Lily heard the familiar swish of a cloak.  
  
"Wh-h-h-o's there?" timid Peter asked to the air in front of him.  
  
"I'd like to know myself," James stated, looking around cautiously.  
  
"Wands out, d'you reckon?" Vic whispered to her new friends. They all nodded, and slowly brought their wands out.  
  
Sirius stepped forward, looking on either side of himself, trying to find the conductor of the sound.  
  
He had barely walked two feet when he slipped and fell.  
  
"Clumsy oaf," James muttered, as he and Remus pulled Sirius up by the arms.  
  
"I slipped on that water over there," Sirius retorted, pointing at the puddle of water on the floor that seemed to go all down the hallway.  
  
Just then, the Gryffindors heard another swish of a cloak, and saw footsteps in the water. And they were coming towards them. The six friends stood, frozen, as the footsteps formed in the water, approaching at a speed that seemed slow to the Gryffindors.  
  
"Run," Sirius croaked, but no one could, not even himself. It was as if they were stuck to the ground from terror.  
  
The footsteps drew nearer...closer, and closer they came...  
  
The students cowered in fear. James stood in front of Lily, and Peter who, was cowering behind her. Sirius stood in front of Victoria, who was clutching Remus' arm in fright. By this time, Remus, Peter, Lily and Victoria were blocked from the nearing footsteps, but James and Sirius were still in full view for whatever came their way.  
  
The footsteps were 10 feet away...nine...eight...Victoria clutched Remus' arm even tighter, and held onto Lily's hand...seven...six...five...Lily grasped for James' shoulder, fighting back tears over what she thought would be her dying day...four...three...two feet away...one...  
  
The footsteps were inches away. The six Gryffindors closed their eyes in horror. They felt coldness rush over them. Then heat, then coldness, then heat, then coldness. Over and over, for several minutes. During this time, images played in their minds, though not of past memories, but what appeared to be their futures.  
  
James saw what appeared to be his graduation. He was wearing a cap and gown, and looked to be valedictorian.  
  
Lily saw herself getting ready for her wedding. She was wearing a beautiful gown, and was her matron of honour looked to be Victoria.  
  
Victoria saw herself at what appeared to be a ball. She looked beautiful in a bright red strapless dress, and was dancing with, much to her delight, Sirius.  
  
Sirius saw himself at what looked to be a pub. He was with his friends, and they were laughing and chatting, and seemed to be having a wonderful time.  
  
Remus saw himself sneaking down to the grounds with James, Peter, and Sirius. They were creeping down to the Whomping Willow, and James snuck forward to press the knot on the trunk.  
  
Peter saw himself as an old, balding man in withering robes. He was talking to someone. Someone sitting in a chair by the fire...  
  
As quickly as the images had come, they left, and the six friends were left standing there, in shock. They each opened their eyes, one by one, and looked around. The footsteps had not only come to them, but they had gone right past them. They were still going behind them, as the Gryffindors turned around.  
  
Splat, splat, splat  
  
"What WAS that?" Sirius asked, dumbfounded, as he rubbed his head.  
  
"I don't know," James replied.  
  
"Well, we know what it's not," Vic stated.  
  
"We do?" Remus asked.  
  
"Well, yeah," Vic said, disbelieving that he didn't know what it wasn't, "It's not a student or anything in solid form. It went right through us. And it's not a ghost because ghosts aren't solid when they become invisible. Come to think of it, they're not solid at any time."  
  
"True," Sirius said, tilting his head to the side.  
  
"Wow, you're smart," Peter said, a look of admiration coming across his face. It was a look that Sirius and James were used to by now.  
  
"But there's still one thing I want to know," Lily said.  
  
"What?" The others replied unanimously.  
  
"What was that, and what was it doing here?" Lily stated. 


	8. The Middle Name Game

They walked back to the Gryffindor common room, believing that that episode was enough excitement to keep them going for awhile.  
  
No one had said a word since Lily's question, which no one had been able to answer.  
  
"You know, we still haven't found the kitchens," Remus commented when the Gryffindors were safely inside the common room with the other students.  
  
The others said nothing, and James supposed they, like he, were still a little shaken up about what happened by the dungeons.  
  
I wonder if anyone saw their futures as well, James pondered to himself.  
  
Little did he know that all of his friends were thinking the same thing.  
  
"So...when are we gonna do the you-know-what?" Sirius asked quietly, forcing the thought of what just happened out of their minds.  
  
"What's the you-know-what?" Vic questioned curiously as she looked around at her friends' faces.  
  
Lily, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus glanced at each other, and seemed to be questioning each other with their eyes.  
  
"She won't tell," Lily stated, "She might even want to help us."  
  
"Okay..." James gave in, silencing the other boys' presumed protests.  
  
"Well, Vic, it's like this," Lily started. And the five Gryffindors took the next ten minutes to explain their plan in detail. By the end of the explanation, Vic wasn't the only one with a wide grin on her face. They all had them.  
  
"But it's all just a matter of when," James concluded after letting what they had just informed Vic sink in.  
  
"What about the day after tomorrow. At the Halloween Feast," Vic replied after a moments' thought.  
  
"Great idea! I don't know why we never thought of that!" Sirius exclaimed. Vic grinned proudly.  
  
"See? I told you she'd be a help," Lily stated, looking boastful. That look was quickly pushed away as she fell off of her chair from a shove from James.  
  
"HEY!" Lily cried looking angry, but there was a note of amusement in her face, "You're gonna pay for that one, James Cameron Potter!"  
  
"Oh, am I?" James asked, turning red slightly as she said his middle name.  
  
"Cameron?" Sirius snickered, as did Remus and Peter, as they hid their mouths with their hands.  
  
"Hey, I wouldn't talk, Sirius Fredrick Black!" James shouted, his ears turning red.  
  
"Fredrick!?!?!?!?" Remus and Peter were in all their glory, as they laughed openly about Sirius' middle name.  
  
"Fredrick's a nice name," Vic commented, truly meaning it.  
  
"Yeah! It is, isn't it?" Sirius asked Vic, as if just realizing it for the first time.  
  
"Nope!" Vic replied, giggling along with Remus and Peter.  
  
"Hey..." Sirius said.  
  
"Can't be worse that Lily's middle name! Right, Lily Marie Evans?" James questioned.  
  
"Hey! I like my middle name!" Lily retorted, hands on her hips.  
  
"Remus' middle name is the worst! Henry!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
"Hey, that was uncalled for! Besides, what's wrong with the name Henry?" Remus asked.  
  
"His middle name's not the worst! Peter's is Marcel!" James cried suddenly.  
  
"Marcel!" The others cooed.  
  
"Hey!" Peter cried, "That wasn't very nice!"  
  
"Boy, I'm glad you guys don't know me well enough to know my middle name!" Vic commented as everyone laughed at Peter's reaction.  
  
"Oh, you shouldn't have said that, Vic," Lily warned.  
  
"Why not?" Vic asked.  
  
"What's your middle name, Vic?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Do I look stupid enough to tell you?" Vic asked.  
  
"No, but we all told ours!" James exclaimed.  
  
"Actually, each of you told someone else's," Vic reasoned.  
  
"True, but come on. Be a sport," Remus said, sitting down next to Victoria.  
  
"Okay...it's Isabelle," Victoria admitted.  
  
"That's a pretty name!" Lily cried, "Unlike Marcel, Henry, Cameron, and Fredrick over here..."  
  
"HEY!!!!" The four boys cried out, realizing that she insulted them a good ten seconds after she said it. Victoria giggled.  
  
"Can we stop with the middle names, now, please?" Peter asked timidly.  
  
"Yeah alright..." the others agreed.  
  
After a minutes' silence, James asked, "Anyone up for a game of chess?"  
  
Ironically, all the others cried, "I am!"  
  
The next day, the only thing planned was a Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff match. Of course, Remus went. He had to, as he was commentator. James went, because he wanted to see their techniques for when Gryffindor played them. Sirius and Lily went because they didn't want to break their record of never missing a Hogwarts Quidditch match while they were at school. Peter went because he always had to do what Sirius and James did, and Vic went because she had nothing else to do.  
  
The game started soon. Unlike the Slytherin/Gryffindor game, where three quarters of the crowd were cheering for Gryffindor, the crowd was pretty much split evenly when it came to cheering. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, of course, cheered for their respected houses, while Slytherins and Gryffindors were divided in cheering for both.  
  
"And they're off! Ravenclaw Chaser and captain Justin Pritchard takes the Quaffle first, and speeds down the wing, and attempts a pass at Julie Joseph! But the Quaffle is intercepted by Hufflepuff Chaser Conner McDermott as Hufflepuff beater Ashley Thomas sends a bludger straight for Pritchard!" Remus commentated.  
  
The game droned on for quite awhile. The Seekers were't very good. James, sitting in the stands, saw the Snitch at least four times before it went away. Finally, after several hours, the game ended at 350-290 for Ravenclaw.  
  
"Man, you'd think they'd at least have better Chasers to get the points higher. That game was so completely and utterly BORING!" Sirius exclaimed as they left the pitch, and walked through the darkness, and up the steps leading to the school.  
  
"I know what you mean," Vic agreed. Though she didn't show it, she was a die-hard fan of any sport, Muggle or Magical. That's why she was taking Muggle Studies this year, as were the rest of them. At the moment they were talking about the Muggle Government in class, but Vic couldn't wait for the Sports part to start up.  
  
"I didn't know you liked Quidditch," Sirius commented, furrowing his brow, and looking at Vic.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Vic replied, blushing, "You don't know a lot about me."  
  
When they got up to the common room, they pre-planned exactly what was going to happen the following day at the Halloween Feast.  
  
"Why do we need to do all this planning?" Peter moaned after about an hour of it.  
  
"How about, because if we don't then, everyone will suspect us, and we'll most likely get in loads of trouble," Remus replied.  
  
"Oh," Peter said timidly, and didn't speak another word during the planning.  
  
After two hours, James herad himself saying, "Okay, does everyone know their positions?"  
  
"Yes, Sir James Cameron Potter," everyone except Peter, who merely nodded, mimicked.  
  
"Ha ha," James replied blandly, not in the least bit amused.  
  
"Glad you find it funny," Vic stated.  
  
James opened his mouth to speak, but Remus cut in, "Before an all-out brawl begins, anyone up for a game of chess?"  
  
And so the evening progressed, with less talk of the next day, and more of Quidditch.  
  
The next morning, the six friends set off to the Great Hall. They ate breakfast without much chat, which surprised many passers-by, as usually this group was the noisiest you could find.  
  
After their meal, the Gryffindor third-years split up, some heading to Arithmancy, or The Study of Ancient Runes. Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Vic, however, headed towards the Muggle Studies classroom, along with a few other third years in their house.  
  
When they sat down, the teacher, Professor Adams, called roll from her chair. Professor Adams was quite young, but was very precise and organized. Many were reminded of Professor McGonagall when Professor Adams' name was spoken, but those who knew her, or were in any of her classes, knew that she was much nicer and more lenient with her students.  
  
"Good morning, children," she started off after she checked attendance, which was practically part of her daily routine, "I am happy to announce, and I'm sure that most of you will be happy to hear, that we have finished our unit on the Muggle Government."  
  
At this statement, pandemonium broke loose.  
  
"YES!"  
  
"You're kidding! That was my favourite unit!"  
  
"What unit are we doing next?"  
  
"We're not having a test on it? That's great!"  
  
"I hated that unit so much, that it made me want to go and strangle every single person on any government in the world!"  
  
"Hear, hear!"  
  
"When's our sports unit?"  
  
This one last tiny remark shut up the whole class. This occurred, because the speaker of the statement was Victoria Isabelle Briche. Victoria struck everyone as the type that would be more into 'girly' things, like makeup, clothes, frilly stuff, and the colour pink. But that simply wasn't true. She wasn't exactly a tomboy. She cared enough about her looks to make her look beautiful almost every moment of every day, but she didn't care in the least bit of make-up, frilly stuff, or the colour pink. Clothes were the one thing that might make someone classify Vic as 'girly', even though she didn't take much time with her clothes. She was always on the cutting-edge of fashion, because her mother was a fashion designer, and sent Vic clothes every once in awhile.  
  
"I didn't know you liked sports," One boy, whose name was Jordan Vanderbeek announced, breaking the silence.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Vic replied, blushing.  
  
More silence filled the air, until, "Alright class, I know many of you are wondering what our next unit will be," Professor Adams announced, causing every pair of eyes to move from Vic to herself, "Well, the answer to that question is..."  
  
"Is what?" Sirius exclaimed, after a few moments' silence.  
  
"Well, I can't very well tell you without a drumroll!" Professor Adams replied, hands on her hips.  
  
James was the first person to start the drumroll. Banging his hands quickly on the desk, this started everyone else up, and soon enough, the whole class had started a very off-beat, very noisy, drumroll.  
  
After about ten seconds of this, Professor Adams mouthed the words 'thank you'. Or it looked like she mouthed them. She might have been saying them, but you couldn't tell from all the noise of the drumroll.  
  
"Thank you! That's enough!" the children heard a faint call, but ignored it and kept on going, the noise getting louder and louder.  
  
"THANK YOU! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Professor Adams shouted, but even that was only a bit louder than the first time, because the drumroll kept getting louder and louder. Finally, Professor Adams took out her wand, and shot sparks in the air.  
  
Only a few kids stopped the drumroll. Many were still going, James, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Lily, and Vic included.  
  
In the end, Professor Adams stunned the children still doing the drumroll, and said, calmly, but firmly, "Thank you, that's enough."  
  
"Enervate," she muttered, as she pointed at each student that was Stunned.  
  
"Somehow, I liked it more before I came to Hogwarts," Remus muttered.  
  
Hearing this, Professor Adams asked, "Why's that, Remus?"  
  
"Well, I went to a Muggle school before I got my letter, and whenever we, as the students, got too loud, we didn't get Stunned. The only thing a teacher could do was jump up on her chair, and scream at us. Not that anyone noticed," Remus replied with a grin.  
  
The students laughed, as did Professor Adams, who also added, "That must've been torture!"  
  
"Yes, I know, it was! She didn't have a very nice voice, and I can tell you, that her screaming didn't make as very nice background music," Remus agreed. At this, everyone laughed again.  
  
"I was talking about the teacher, Remus," Professor Adams said, chuckling, as she leaned against her desks, arms crossed.  
  
"Well, both ways, then..." Remus replied, crossing his arms, and blushing a bit, as the whole class laughed at him.  
  
"Yes, well, on with the lesson, d'you reckon?" Professor Adams questioned, but, not waiting for answer, kept going, "Our new unit shall be...well, I'm not sure myself! I've been debating between two: Sports, and Electricity. What do you guys think?"  
  
The decision was almost unanimous. 


	9. The Best Prank Ever

"Sports it is, then!" Professor Adams agreed, as she walked behind her desk and sat down in a very comfortable-looking chair.  
  
"YES!" Vic cried out. She was overjoyed! It can't get any better than this, she thought to herself, as she sunk back into her chair, unaware of the eyes staring at her.  
  
"Glad to see that at least one person will be in full participation," Professor Adams stated, smiling at Vic. But Vic could barely hear her, "There's one more thing, though."  
  
"What?" Remus asked, his arms still crossed.  
  
"Well, not only will we be learning about Muggle sports, but we will be playing them, as well," Professor Adams said, still smiling.  
  
Ohmigod, it just did get better, Victoria thought excitedly. She was beaming, and was staring at Professor Adams. Eyes were still staring at her. After a minute, she regained her senses, and turned to Lily.  
  
"It's like a dream come true!" she cried.  
  
"Whatever you say, Vic," Lily chuckled.  
  
"I didn't know you liked Muggle sports as well as Quidditch," Sirius stated, furrowing his brow.  
  
"Well, like I said before: You don't know a helluva lot about me," Vic replied, smiling.  
  
"Actually, I believe you said, 'You don't know a lot about me'," Remus babbled.  
  
"Remus?" Vic asked in a sickly sweet voice.  
  
"Yeah?" Remus replied.  
  
"Shut up," Vic commanded, and smiled, staring at Professor Adams as she explained what sorts of sports they would be learning.  
  
Muggle Studies ended on a light note and the six Gryffindors headed out to their next class. It seemed like classes were slower than usual, as they waited anxiously until the time came for the Halloween Feast to start.  
  
In Potions, the friends were happier than usual. Every time Malfoy, Snape, or any other Slytherin looked their way, they just grinned back at them, much to their surprise.  
  
Their last class, Herbology, had been cancelled, due to their teacher being down with the flu. They had two hours to kill before the feast.  
  
They spent the time walking around, and after an hour of this, went to the common room to play chess and Gobstones.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they walked with the rest of Gryffindor House down to the Great Hall, where the rest of the school was filing in.  
  
After being seated, Professor Dumbledore arose from his seat at the Teachers' Table.  
  
"Good evening, students and teachers. Welcome to the Halloween Feast," Dumbledore greeted.  
  
A bit of clapped followed, and he started up again.  
  
"I hope you all enjoy the scrumptious food that has been made in our very own kitchens, and last but not least: Happy Halloween!" Dumbledore finished, sitting back down in his seat.  
  
"Now?" Peter whispered to the others. Sirius merely shook his head.  
  
"Later. With dessert," James grinned, digging in on his chicken.  
  
"Excellent," Remus said, shoveling his soup into his mouth.  
  
The six Gryffindors ate quickly, too anxious to take their time.  
  
"Too bad the rest of the school doesn't know," Remus muttered, "Or else they'd hurry up and eat!"  
  
Finally, the moment they'd all been waiting for arrived. Dessert came.  
  
The table filled with several different kinds of cakes, ice creams, pastries, and candy.  
  
Remus reached for a slice of chocolate cake, but quickly drew back after a sharp slap on the wrist from Lily.  
  
"What?" Remus asked, throwing his arms up and trying to look innocent.  
  
"The plan, you great prat," Lily hissed, as the six stood, trying hard not to draw attention to themselves as they slipped just outside of the Great Hall. Lucky for them, the other students and teachers were too involved in their dessert to notice them missing.  
  
"Do you have the supplies?" James whispered to Sirius, who nodded, and from behind a nearby statue, pulled a large duffel bag.  
  
"It's all in here," Sirius confirmed, handing the bag over to James.  
  
"Okay, great," James replied, quickly taking charge of the situation, "Now, Lily, when I signal, you and Victoria head out to the Slytherin table. I think you know what to do there. Then, Peter, you come in. I explained what you have to do yesterday night, remember?"  
  
Peter nodded fervently, trying to look brave, but not succeeding.  
  
"Okay," James said, not noticing the fear on Peter's face. James quickly turned to Sirius, "Sirius, while they're distracted, you change the drink. Do you have the substitute?"  
  
"Yup, and I tested it last night on one of the first-years," Sirius said, and then, seeing the fear on James' face, quickly added, "But don't worry, I put a Memory Charm on him so he wouldn't remember!"  
  
"Okay," James replied, disbelieving, "Now, Remus, you remember both the spells?"  
  
"Yes sir!" Remus saluted.  
  
"This is no time for jokes, Remus! We've got a lot to do, and a limited time to do it in!" James announced urgently. "Alright. As soon as Remus is done, I will come in with the ammo." He grinned widely, and so did the others, as their plan was complete. It was all just a matter of following through. Without getting noticed or caught.  
  
"Alright you two, walk back to the Gryffindor table, but remember: Don't bring attention to yourselves," James commanded, pushing Lily and Vic out towards their house table.  
  
Lily and Vic walked stealthily to their seats, and cut themselves slices of cake, and loaded up on ice cream, acting as if everything was normal. No one seemed to even notice they had been gone!  
  
Finally, after what seemed like ages to the two girls, even though it was more like two minutes, they heard a small, long, and low whistle from the direction of where they had just come from.  
  
"That's the signal! James showed me last night!" Lily hissed quietly to Vic, who nodded and stood. Lily got up as well, and they headed in the direction of the Slytherin table, walking like they had seen models on TV do, and only stopped walking when they were behind Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Lily tapped Snape on the shoulder lightly. He turned around, and was surprised - yet pleased - to see Lily there. He didn't even seem to notice Vic.  
  
Snape greeted, "Lily! What a surprise! What are you doing here?"  
  
Lily twirled her hair around her finger flirtatiously and said, "Well, I finally realized what dorks James and his stupid friends are. And I decided I needed a real man. And of course, my first thought was you."  
  
Snape grinned from ear to ear, "Glad you finally came to your senses! And look! You brought a friend! Oi, Lucius! Look!" Snape said, finally realizing that Vic was standing right beside Lily.  
  
"What is it?" Lucius asked, turning around, and was pleasantly surprised to see Vic standing in front of him, "Well, hello there."  
  
"Hi," Vic replied in a flirty tone.  
  
"Well, we saw this mouse," Lily improvised, realizing that she was taking too much time doing this, "Over at the Gryffindor table, and we were wondering if you two would care to help us shoo it away. We would ask someone else, but you two are the only ones that seem worthy enough to help us."  
  
"Sure!" Lucius and Snape exclaimed at the same time, and followed Lily and Vic to their own table.  
  
Meanwhile, Peter had walked up to the Slytherin table, his face hidden by the hood of his cloak. He doubted any of the SLytherins would have recognized him anyway. They were all very interested in their dessert still. Peter reached into his cloak and pulled out some Krazy Glue of Lily's. He quickly spread some all over Snape and Malfoy's seat, and when the bottle was done, he quickly walked back to their stake-out, where James, Remus, and Sirius were waiting.  
  
Sirius quickly walked out to the Slytherin table, also with his hood covering his face, as he held two goblets in his hands. He pulled a quick- switch and hurried back to where James, Remus, and Peter were watching.  
  
Sirius arrived back at the stake-out just in time, too, because Lily, Vic, Snape, and Malfoy were walking back to the Slytherin table already, talking amongst themselves.  
  
"I don't know where the stupid mouse went! It was right there before!" Vic exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air for effect.  
  
"Well, they scurry quite fast for such tiny little things," Lucius informed her, trying to look smart.  
  
Lily and Snape nodded in agreement as Snape and Malfoy sat down in their seats, still looking at the girls.  
  
"Well, we better go finish up our dessert!" Lily said, hands in her pockets, as she and Vic turned to go.  
  
"Wait! We ju-" Snape started, getting up, but he couldn't! He was stuck to his seat! "What the-?"  
  
"You're such a prat, Severus! Here, let me help you up!" Malfoy offered, rolling his eyes as he too, tried to stand, but couldn't. "What's going on here?"  
  
"Well, we better go, boys! See you later!" Vic said, as she and Lily departed to the Gryffindor table.  
  
"But-!" Malfoy started, but didn't finish his sentence as he struggled to get out of his seat.  
  
Several of the students in the Great Hall had realized that Snape and Malfoy were stuck to their seats from the commotion they were making, and started to laugh.  
  
Giving up, Snape and Malfoy reached for their pumpkin juice, and took large swigs out of their goblets.  
  
After a minute, they slowly started to change formation into...  
  
Apes! Great, hairy apes! You could still tell it was them, though, and they seemed to have kept their brains, because they were looking at each other in horror. The whole Hall was laughing uncontrollably. Even their fellow Slytherins!  
  
With the great distraction, Remus walked just inside the Great Hall, and pointed his wand at the two Slytherins, muttering incantations.  
  
Suddenly, bats swooped down from the enchanted ceiling above, and attacked each and every one of the Slytherins. The Slytherin students were jumping up and down, and running around as the bats attacked their hair. After five minutes, the bats flew back up to the ceiling, and the Slytherins, though shaken up, returned to their seats and continued their desserts. They were shaken up enough to have forgotten about the apes seated with them, although the rest of the Hall hadn't. They were still laughing hysterically - some were even pounding the tables with their fists, and crying with laughter!  
  
When the hysteria had subsided, the occupants of the Great Hall preoccupied themselves by eating more dessert until they heard yet more screams coming from the Slytherin table.  
  
"Oh my god! Snakes! Great dirty snakes! Cobras, I tell you!" Malfoy was shouting. At least he was making some sense. Snape was just shrieking in fear and horror, as he jumped up onto the table, knocking a few dishes to the ground.  
  
"Snakes everywhere! Help us!" Malfoy was still shouting. Then James, who was having a hard time trying to keep from keeling over in laughter, walked inside the Great Hall, and stood next to Remus, carrying the duffel bag, which was now half-empty. They were soon joined by Lily, Vic, Peter, and Sirius as they each reached into the duffel bag and pulled out handfuls of...  
  
Balloons! Half-filled, round, colourful balloons! They each pulled out their wands, and enchanted each and every one of the balloons, causing each coloured ball to float up above the Slytherins in mid-air without anyone noticing. Most were still laughing at Snape and Malfoy, who were still shrieking about snakes. Then, they stealthily walked back to their seats at the Gryffindor table, without bringing any attention to themselves, with their wands still in their hands.  
  
When everyone had started to get bored with Snape and Malfoy, and were turning back to their food, the six Gryffindors flicked their wands at the same time, letting the balloons, which were filled with water and flour, fall onto the Slytherin table.  
  
It was a mess! All the Slytherins were covered in a white mass of thick, gooey flour-paste! And they were not too happy about it.  
  
Many girls were shrieking in horror of how they must look at the moment, although most of the other students thought it was an improvement. Other girls were wailing about how they had just gotten new robes or dresses, and now it was all ruined. Most boys were seated, still in shock of what had just occurred, while the rest were throwing the paste at each other.  
  
Meanwhile, Snape and Malfoy were still screaming about snakes. It was quite a sight indeed. Two great, hairy ape-boys jumping up and down on a table, screaming about snakes, while covered in a thick, white paste. Not many noticed, because of uncontrollable laughter, that their robes had also ripped at the seat of their pants, and their underpants were showing. Lily, Remus, Sirius, James, Vic, and Peter did however, through peals of laughter at the sight.  
  
"This is definitely a Kodak moment," Lily announced as she pulled out her camera and a flash went off as she pressed a button.  
  
"What is that?" James asked curiously, looking at the small black box.  
  
Lily shook her head, "I'll tell you later. But for now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the entertainment."  
  
The common room was buzzing when they finally reached it. Everyone was too busy to notice the six third-year Gryffindors walk in. You could feel the excitement and the electricity as everyone recalled what happened.  
  
"They'll be talking about this one for years!" James heard one of the sixth- year boys exclaim.  
  
"Ooh...I've hated that Slytherin girl, Darcy since first year! She got a bat wing hit her eye, and I must say, she deserved it!" A seventh-year girl cried out, looking smug.  
  
"Looks like our plan worked, after all!" Lily muttered, as she grinned at the others.  
  
"How could it not? We planned that thing for so long!" James whispered back, looking eager, "But I must say, it was worth it!"  
  
"Definitely," Sirius agreed, and the others nodded.  
  
"Come on, let's go join the fun!" Remus exclaimed, as he pulled the others along to a group of fellow third-years, and they chatted about the prank, without giving away that they were the ones who had pulled it off.  
  
After a good two hours of non-stop chatter, the Gryffindors noticed a new sign on the Gryffindor bulletin board.  
  
"What's it say?" The Gryffindors, young and old, asked James as they didn't want to get up from their comfortable positions, and he was standing right in front of it.  
  
"There's gonna be a Hogsmeade visit tomorrow!" James exclaimed as he read the sign. 


End file.
